Notes from the Front Row(...ish) : Aliya Khan
Thoughts on missing Aliya’s Platinum Circle Award
In my home there’s a rug that never quite settles.
It moves from room to room - living room, kids’ rooms, wherever the energy happens to be that season. It’s been the backdrop for play, arguments, late-night talks, and quiet mornings. At this point, it’s part of the family.
Aliya’s mom picked out that rug for me in Pakistan, and it was carried halfway around the world. Whether she realizes it or not, Aliya’s been woven into my daily life ever since.
So when I heard she was getting the Platinum Circle Award, our industry’s version of a lifetime achievement honor - it felt like watching that rug lift off the floor and fly.
I wasn’t in the room that night, that’s why this is “Notes From The Front Row(…ish), I wanted to be there, and I’m still bummed I couldn’t make it.
But I did the next best thing: I hunted her down for a recording of her speech. I even sent her this, in Urdu, just to make sure the message landed:
براہِ کرم پلاٹینم سرکل ایوارڈز میں آپ کی تقریر کی ویڈیو مجھے بھیج دیں.
The internet assures me this translates to:
“Please send me the video of your speech at the Platinum Circle Awards.”
(I’m still trusting but not verifying exactly what it says)
And listening to it: her voice, her gratitude, her stories; it felt exactly like what that rug has always represented to me: a place where people gather, laugh, argue, support each other, and keep coming back, year after year.
The First Threads
I honestly can’t remember if I met Aliya first at 1111 Westchester, at the Starleigh Building in Chelsea, or somewhere else. What I do remember is this:
Her warmth.
Her humor.
Her presence.
That immediate internal click: This is someone I will know forever.
The titles and promotions, and big projects came later. The title “Vice President of Global Design Strategy and Product Development” at Marriott International is impressive, and true, but for me, the headline was always simpler:
This is one of my people.
From there, the threads multiplied: shared projects, ridiculous travel stories, some parties, a Thanksgiving or (two?), the rug from her mom… all these little fibers twisting into a relationship neither of us could’ve predicted back in early 2000s.
The Long Road in a Volatile Business
Our industry is not for the faint of heart. It’s high-touch, capital-intensive, emotionally draining, logistically insane - and that’s on a good day.
Over the last 20+ years, we’ve all lived through:
Acquisitions
Brand launches
Financial crises
A global pandemic
Flights that never should’ve taken off
Installs that never should’ve finished on time (yet somehow did)
But if you stay long enough, something subtle happens. The game shifts from:
“How do I take the next step?”
to
“Who am I building this with?”
All the “business porn” I’ve read - Carnegie, Covey, Collins, Guidara, or Smart, etc. pick your guru - circles the same truth:
Stay focused.
Play the long game.
Relationships compound.
Aliya’s career is Exhibit A. She didn’t just stay in hospitality; she stayed in relationships with people. She nurtured her “pod”, expanded it, and never lost the core curiosity and care that made her fun to sit next to, long before anyone handed her an award.
Why Her Platinum Circle Moment Hit Different
People don’t get Platinum Circle because they’re technically good at their job. That’s table stakes.
Aliya got there because of how she moves through the world:
She leads with thoughtfulness, not ego.
She cares about imprint more than footprint.
She geeks out equally over a matchbook, a rug, a chandelier, or an opportunity to give a friend a shot at something new. (No need to say “don’t fuck it up.” I just know that’s not a viable outcome.)
She treats design as a form of love - a chance to give people an experience they’ll actually carry with them.
When she talks about hospitality, she doesn’t start with a layouts, a lobby or a room type. She talks about people.
Her mother remembering every guest’s preferences, cousins eating cross-legged on a rug at her grandmother’s house, the joy of watching travelers move through a space you helped shape.
When she talks about brands, she doesn’t start with guidelines.
She starts with quirks.
With personality.
With the specific guest who actually shows up at the door.
Thirty siblings in one portfolio - each with their own language, their own culture, their own weirdness that deserves to be celebrated, not scrubbed.
Watching her acceptance speech ex post facto, I heard all of it - gratitude, humor, story after story. But underneath, I heard something else: the continuity of two plus decades of work, friendship, and shared history.
All the unseen threads that made that moment possible.
The Quiet Magic of Staying in the Weave
Here’s the thing nobody tells you early on:
If you hang around this industry long enough, you get to watch your friends turn into the very leaders you once tried not to embarrass yourself in front of.
It’s surreal.
And it’s a gift.
Some now run brands.
Some run portfolios.
Some run firms.
Some stepped out to create something new.
But the “pod” - the one she referenced - is still there.
A kind of invisible group chat that outlives logos and org charts.
Her Platinum Circle honor wasn’t just about her.
It was about that whole generation that came up through their Starwood origins, doing something very different.
A recognition that long-term commitment in a volatile industry is still worth celebrating.
Planting New Trees, Spinning New Threads
I keep coming back to a line I love, and repeat often:
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today.”
Same goes for relationships.
Same goes for careers.
Same goes for deciding, “This is my industry. These are my people.”
We’ve hit the stage where we’re not just the scrappy ones begging for a shot….well some of us still are ;)
We’re the ones who can open doors, make introductions, vouch for someone, give a young designer or strategic thinker their first platform.
Aliya does that naturally. She’s mentored me in this respect, whether she realized it or not, on how to be damn good at this and have extreme intention and joy while doing it.
Her Platinum Circle win is proof that you can play at the highest level and still pull others up with you.
We owe that to the next wave - the assistants, project managers, coordinators, junior designers, emerging operators, and young hoteliers standing where we once stood: starstruck, overstimulated, just hoping someone remembers their name.
A Note to Aliya — From One Rug to Another
So, Aliya:
I’m sorry I wasn’t in the room that night.
I wish I could’ve been on my feet, clapping like an idiot, yelling your name while security gave me the side-eye.
But I did chase down your speech.
I listened to it. I watched it.
And like the rug your mom chose for me, it transported me.
Back to Westchester.
Back to the Starleigh Building.
Back to some parties and Thanksgivng(s?)
Back to when none of us had titles, but all of us had hope.
I am proud of you.
I am grateful for you.
And I’m honored that some of the threads in your story are tangled up with mine.
Here’s to the magic carpet ride so far, and to wherever it takes us next.
You truly are the Great Khan.
— Dan Ryan
Here’s a gander way back at episode #35
Audio:
…and when I think of all of the other winners, who I’ve missed, I think I’ll need to dedicate something to them too.